Changes in nitrogen cycling during the past century in a northern hardwood forest.

ABSTRACT: Nitrogen (N) availability, defined here as the supply of N to terrestrial plants and soil microorganisms relative to their N demands, limits the productivity of many temperate zone forests and in part determines ecosystem carbon (C) content. Despite multidecadal monitoring of N in streams, the long-term record of N availability in forests of the northeastern United States is largely unknown. Therefore, although these forests have been receiving anthropogenic N deposition for the past few decades, it is still uncertain whether terrestrial N availability has changed during this time and, subsequently, whether forest ecosystems have responded to increased N deposition. Here, we used stable N isotopes in tree rings and lake sediments to demonstrate that N availability in a northeastern forest

SUBMITTER: McLauchlan KK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1863457 | biostudies-literature | 2007 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature